In First Year, Uber Snaring Fares In Connecticut

Uber's drivers have built a substantial ridership in Fairfield, Hartford and New Haven counties, largely among business people and young adults who use a mobile app to request rides.

Uber's drivers have built a substantial ridership in Fairfield, Hartford and New Haven counties, largely among business people and young adults who use a mobile app to request rides. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune)

HARTFORD — After rolling into Connecticut a year ago, Uber has followed pretty much the same route it did in California, Washington and other states: Fast growth and a healthy dose of controversy.

Uber's drivers have built a substantial ridership in Fairfield, Hartford and New Haven counties, largely among business people and young adults who use a mobile app to request rides. Since offering its first Connecticut ride a year ago this week, Uber says it has built a network of nearly 2,000 drivers who carry "tens of thousands" of passengers each week.

That has generated an angry backlash from taxi owners along with consternation among state regulators who, like their counterparts across the country, have been searching for a balance of regulations that protect riders and offer fairness to the taxicab industry without burying Uber in costly rules.

Uber portrays itself as deftly innovative, outmaneuvering traditional taxi companies by using GPS, phone apps, minute-to-minute data analysis and a fresh business model. It's marketing is aimed at the young, the tech-savvy and the well-heeled.

"Uber's mission is to create safe, more reliable, more affordable transportation options," Matthew Powers, manager of Uber Connecticut, says, effectively summing up the case that Uber pitches in every new market it enters. "Anyone who wants a ride should be able to get one quickly, and we want that experience to be transparent."

The General Assembly's transportation committee on Wednesday voted 31-0 in favor of a bill that creates a wide list of standards Uber must follow. The bill is the result of negotiations...

HARTFORD — Lawmakers are moving closer toward setting up new rules for the ride-hailing services like Uber Technologies.

The General Assembly's transportation committee on Wednesday voted 31-0 in favor of a bill that creates a wide list of standards Uber must follow. The bill is the result of negotiations...

(Associated Press)

Taxi owners contend that Uber wins by cheating.

The company operates outside the network of regulations that tightly control the taxi industry by dictating who can drive cabs, what they charge, how they maintain their cars and what regions they must serve. Uber has an unfair advantage because it doesn't have to follow those rules, cabbies complain.

Uber has made big inroads in taking people to and from Metro-North stations in affluent Fairfield County towns, for instance, and taxi drivers from Greenwich complained to legislators this winter that it's costing them business. At a hearing in March, a taxi industry spokeswoman called Uber drivers "rogue gypsies."

The service is available for guests 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Uber was launched in Connecticut in April 2014 and provides service in Fairfield, New Haven and Hartford counties....

UNCASVILLE (AP) - Uber, the ride-hailing app, is offering runs to and from the Mohegan Sun casino and hotel.

The service is available for guests 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Uber was launched in Connecticut in April 2014 and provides service in Fairfield, New Haven and Hartford counties....

By the end of this legislative session, though, Connecticut legislators may have a law in place to specify how so-called transportation network companies such as Uber operate. As it stands, the new bill impose no cap on Uber's controversial surge pricing system, which raises its standard fare — sometimes steeply — based on demand. But Connecticut would set mandates for Uber to do background checks drivers and to ensure that passengers are covered by liability insurance.

"It's still a work in progress, but I feel good about it right now. I'm not hearing anyone say they don't want to protect riders — and if we don't do this, there's nothing in place," said Rep. Tony Guerrera, co-chairman of the General Assembly's transportation committee.

Uber maintains that it already thoroughly vets prospective drivers and provides sufficient insurance to protect riders in case of a crash. Powers said that, so far, nothing in the proposed regulations is onerous.

Uber customers use a phone app to request a ride; they receive a photo of the driver who is coming for them, a phone number to call or text, and the license plate of the car. The app also lets riders get an estimate of the fare.

Unlike fleet taxi drivers, who typically work for a set shift of perhaps 8 or 10 hours, Uber drivers are pretty much free to set their own schedules. They're considered on call whenever they activate their app; by closing it, they indicate they're not available. Drivers use their own cars, and get assignments by an app that shows a rider's location and destination.

Uber says it is not a transportation company and doesn't own cars; instead, it links available drivers with nearby trip requests. When a customer requests a ride, Uber says it contacts the nearest available car — determined by a location system that's part of the driver's app — and provides 15 seconds for the driver to tap a screen either accepting or rejecting the trip.

Since the start of this year, Uber has moved into New London County through an agreement that established special Uber lanes at the Mohegan Sun.

Riders pay by credit card, not cash, and are able to submit ratings after the trip; Uber says it drops drivers who have too many poor ratings or who reject too many trip requests. Not surprisingly, Yelp and social media reviews of Uber range from dreadful to glowing.

After several cabbies complained about Uber at his committee's hearing, Guerrera replied by promising lawmakers would strive for fairness. But he warned that the state can't protect taxicabs from this new competition or that next wave that will follow.

"If we make it a level playing field, the consumer should have the option," Guerrera said.